Glass Bones
by spiritinduced
Summary: Lie 1: Keira was perfectly safe at Hogwarts. Lie 2: There was nothing going on with James S. Potter and there never would be. Lie 3: Gryffindors host the best parties. Rating subject to change.
1. one

If there was one thing Keira hated more than a double class of Care of Magical Creatures first thing on a Thursday morning, it was the fact that she seemed to share the class with half of the Weasley clan.

Okay – perhaps that was an exaggeration, but between Fred Weasley, James Potter and Louis Weasley, it sure as hell felt like it was half of their family. Keira personally didn't have anything against the subject itself; she detested almost 95% of her classmates because they had taken it as an easy option. However, half of the class she rarely seemed to see outside of Creatures, some because they were in other classes with her housemates or because she wasn't looking for them.

"Mr Potter," Professor Ashby said sternly, "Would you care to approach the Porlock we have here, to prove that you have actually been listening for the past fifteen minutes?"

Keira, along with most of the class, turned to look at James. He had been relaxing on a large boulder with his two cousins, completely ignoring the class. The silence had only made her wary; the trio were never silent unless they were waiting for some kind of terrible practical joke to unwind. She had never been a direct victim of a single one of their 'jokes' herself, she only knew of the people who were.

"I'm good thanks, Sir."

A couple of the students giggled. Keira sighed and glanced at the tiny herd of Porlock that seemed to shy away from the assembled class.

"Will anyone come forward and show the class how it's done? Miss –" Professor Ashby checked his clipboard, "Fitzpatrick?"

Keira heard a gasp. She had to give her new Creatures Professor leniency – he had only just started at Hogwarts a month ago, at the beginning of the school year. No-one, including Keira herself, liked to talk about what had happened and it was unlikely that any of the other teachers had wanted to share what occurred to Keira Fitzpatrick when she was a baby – she wasn't even sure which members of staff knew the gruesome details – but there was one teacher she knew could see through every façade that she threw over her face: Professor Trelawney.

The only downside to Divination? The Weasley Trio, _again._

Nevertheless, Keira completely ignored Professor Ashby's instructions. She hadn't been listening to him herself – she'd learnt that she started to zone out whenever he started talking so she'd go up to the Library and make notes on Porlocks later.

Dropping to her knees, Keira stretched out a hand, palm up to the canopy of trees and waited for the tiny horse-like creature to approach her.

"Even Fitzpatrick wasn't listen-" James began to boast, but Keira rose a hand to stop him as the most curious Porlock took a step back.

"Shh, it's okay," She whispered quietly, almost beckoning the Porlock closer. It began to move closer again, the rest of the tiny herd following less eagerly. Keira made sure to soften her movements and move slowly as they started to trot towards her on their cloven legs. The first one nuzzled into her hand and she was almost knocked over by the rest of the herd as they demanded affection.

"Mr Potter!" Professor Ashby announced a couple of seconds later, making the Porlocks almost shy away again. "I'm taking five points for not listening to instructions. Miss Fitzpatrick, same to you, but I also award you fifteen points for an innovative method. What House are you in? Oh, Slytherin? It's nice to see someone from my old House into creatures too!"

* * *

Keira was hardly listening to the lecture Auror Potter was giving. It wasn't entirely his fault, the entire subject simply made her uncomfortable and zoning out helped her cope. The other reason why she was distracted was that she had a History of Magic essay due next and she had to remember the quickest way down to the dungeons to get it from her dormitory and back to class without being late.

"Mr Potter!" There was a hiss from Professor Flitwick, who was supervising the lecture for Auror Potter despite his Headmaster duties. "Move, here. Now."

Keira heard James grumble and pitied the poor soul that would be sat next to him for the next half hour. The seat next to her was suddenly filled and she turned her head to make eye contact with the one and only James Potter. She let out a deflated sigh, inclined her head back to the front and started a staring competition with the curtains beside the podium.

"Hey," James whispered to Keira, despite being stared at by Professor Flitwick. "Hey, you in there?" She felt him poke her shoulder but opted to ignore it so he would become bored. Unfortunately, James Potter didn't get bored with annoying people and continued poking her until she turned back to face him. Keira had been told before that she could do the best 'bitch face', but she never fully understood how until that exact moment in time. She blinked slowly and glared for a moment before spinning back to the stage.

Once the lecture was over, both Keira and James were eager to get away from the other. They had shared classes before but had never sat next to each other. The Slytherins were always frosty with the more prejudiced students and even though James Potter's younger brother was in her house, he remained rude and obnoxious to them all.

"I know why they call her the Ice Queen now," James muttered quietly – but not quietly enough – to his cousins.

Keira turned away automatically and almost walked straight into Albus Potter.

"You scared me half to death there, Key!" Albus said, smiling despite the fright.

"You're not the first person I've scared today, it would seem. What are you doing up here?"

"Got a lecture with Dad. Did you mean to leave this in the common room?" Albus passed her the History essay she had been fretting about.

"Merlin – you're a star, Al. Thanks. I'll see you at lunch, usual spot?"

"You're on. Scorpius might be joining us too, if that's ok?"

"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Al. I should get going, thank you again!" Keira sped away before Albus could even open his mouth to breathe, let alone answer.

* * *

History of Magic was the same as usual. Most of the class napped, but Keira intently scrawled down notes in her neatest handwriting for the business opportunities it offered her. Lots of people liked to unwind in Binn's classroom and copying out the notes wasn't hard when magic was available.

Herbology was a different story entirely. Sharing it with half of the fifth year Gryffindors was a nightmare within itself, the fact that Professor Longbottom tried constantly for idealistic house unity was even more horrific. The real cherry that topped off that lesson as the worst class for the entirety of term was being hauled out of class seconds after sitting down.

"Apologies, Keira, but there's been an accident." Professor Slughorn said as he began to trundle up the staircase.

"How does it involve me, Sir?" She asked, leaning forward as the stairs started to swing round to connect to a different landing.

Professor Slughorn turned around and gave her The Look. She'd seen it only twice before and it always foreshadowed something bad happening. "It's best we talk about this in the Head's office, this is no place to discuss such matters."

Keira remained quiet, even as the staircase ascended to the office.

"I've got Miss Fitzpatrick here, Filius. Oh, Harry! I didn't know you'd be here. Take a seat, Keira."

Keira sat down opposite the old Charms teacher and took in Auror Potters for a moment. She found it almost strange how he could have two children who were practically polar opposites.

"Now, this isn't easy to say, Keira," Professor Flitwick began.

"It's my mum," She said quietly, taking in the Headmaster's grand office.

"Yes," Professor Flitwick continued, "She was found and retrieved from a Muggle hospital, for now she's being checked back into St. Mungo's. The Investigation Department are questioning your Aunt at the Ministry right now."

"Auntie Karen? Why are you interrogating her? She did nothing wrong."

"Keira, we have reason to believe your aunt broke your mother out of St Mungo's four months ago," Professor Flitwick said.

"She didn't want to be in there, Professor! She sent us Howlers all the time of just her screaming and crying and sobbing! If it's against her wishes to be in there, then why should she be in there?"

Keira noticed Auror Potter frowning but didn't pay much attention to it. Many people were a little unnerved about her mother's behaviour, especially out of context.

"Nevertheless, Miss Fitzpatrick, your mother is safe inside the Janus Thickey ward. She won't come to any harm in there, to herself or others."

Glaring at Professor Flitwick and furthermore Auror Potter, Keira rolled her eyes.

"That's where you're wrong. Seeing as this isn't news to me, can I return to my education now please?" Her voice was sharper than a knife, but without waiting for an answer, she rose and left.

* * *

Keira debated sharing what had gone down when she was supposed to be in Herbology but decided against it. She had a headache growing in the front of her head and the constant noise in the Hall wasn't helping her.

"So then she said she didn't need tutoring in Potions and then she adamantly refused my help! I thought you said Rose needed help with her Potions, Al?" Scorpius asked, his white blond head ducking under the table to pick up his cat.

"I'll talk to her later," Albus replied through a mouthful of lunch. "Keira, you're looking really tired, are you alright?"

"Is that code for 'you look like shit', Al?" Keira tried to joke. "Oh, that was a mistake. Can either of you hear this loud banging sound? Kind of like – someone's banging two pots together?" She raised a hand to her forehead in hopes that it made her feel a little better.

"No," Al said carefully, "Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

"If I black out, yes, feel free to drag my unconscious body to Madam Pomfrey. Until then, I am going_ nowhere_ near that part of the castle."

Albus had accepted Keira's loathing for anything remotely medical a long time ago, so he just nodded and continued eating his lunch. Scorpius looked a little lost as he turned back to his cat.

* * *

James had been in Potions for fifteen minutes and he'd already received a nasty look from Professor Slughorn for talking too loudly to Fred. He'd avoided talking about the girl from their Creatures class with Fred for a reason – the bloody boy didn't have any tact when it came to what was appropriate to talk about in front of others. He couldn't keep a secret if it was taped to his forehead.

On the other hand, Louis was much more trustworthy. Sure, he sometimes used information to bribe people into doing his dirty work, but he would never spill one of James' secrets.

"What's up, James?" Louis asked as if he could read his cousin's mind. They started preparing their Potions equipment for the practical side of the session together, unpacking supplies for a Draught of Peace.

"That girl over there. The one with the long black hair, in Slytherin, who is she?" James tried to refrain from pointing.

"Her? That's Keira Fitzpatrick. Why?"

"She got hauled out of Herbology earlier and I had to sit next to her in the Defence lecture after Fred got me moved away. I've never really seen her before."

"Have you been living in a hole?" Louis laughed, "Everyone knows who Keira is, haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"What happened to her mother?"

"No, what happened to her mum?"

Louis grimaced, "Best I tell you later. Not many people know the truth."

As if on cue, Keira raised her head from her cauldron and glared at Louis. She flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder and returned to her work, glowering as she began to crush porcupine quills.

* * *

A/N: Whoops I slipped and I started to write this? I'm not sure if I'm going to continue, but I wanted a kinda different introduction to the entire plot/characters/story. However, Thorne on the Pitch will be coming before this in any case because the characters there have a lil special place in my heart! A review would be cool if anyone feels like it! Thanks for reading!


	2. two

"So, will you tell me about that Fitzpatrick girl now?" James asked eagerly, bouncing after his cousin.

"If you quit being so hyperactive, I'm going to the library. I'll talk to you in there."

James frowned but walked normally next to Louis to the Library. Despite James' hints, he didn't start conversation until they had settled into a dusty corner between the bookshelves. James could almost feel every second ticking in his body as Louis remained silent.

"You're killing me," He hissed across the table, "Can't you tell me first and then do your work?"

Louis looked grim, "You're going to wish I killed you after this, make no mistake, I'm surprised that she's even still standing."

"Who? Keira or her mother?"

"I think – both of them, especially these days. What I've heard," Louis began, despite stating earlier that it was the irrevocable truth, "Is that her parents had this huge argument, right in front of her and then like – her mum tried to do the Memory charm on her partner and it totally backfired and she's never quite been all there since. She used to live with her sister until someone called the Ministry on them while Keira's at school and she's been in and out of St Mungo's since."

"In and out? Surely they'd keep her in there if the spell damage was that bad?"

"That's the thing – her mum's escaped the place so many times it's a wonder she's not been to Azkaban yet," Louis replied, leaning over the table to his cousin.

"Actually a recent decree made it illegal to put people who are of no harm to others in Azkaban, Louis. Next time you're going to start talking complete and utter shit about my family, how about you try doing it where I am not working." Keira said, fixating her gaze on Louis. She turned to James for a moment but didn't speak. She was beyond furious and there was another headache coming her way – something about them seemed almost insistent as her head felt as though it was exploding.

Everything seemed so much louder when her headaches started, she could hear the Gobstones club practicing, even though she was three floors and eighteen corridors away from them. If Albus knew how bad they really were, he'd have marched her to Madam Pomfrey and her assistant automatically. No-one really knew how bad they were except Keira herself. A couple of the girls in her dorm knew about the migraines, but she was never particularly friendly with them outside of Hogwarts, or even class for that matter.

Leaving the Library, Keira used some other kids who said a little too loudly that they were going to the Owlery to follow. It wasn't entirely desperate of her to send a quick message off to her aunt – but part of her said she was overreacting and that she shouldn't, it would only add to Auntie's worries.

"Keira!" Albus cried, catching her attention. She had been hearing his voice very faintly for metres, but it was all so jumbled she couldn't work out where from. "What's up? Is it a headache?"

Keira went to shake her head no, but Al already had her hand in his and was dragging her to the hospital wing.

"Al, I'm alright, I don't need to go and see Madam Pomfrey-" Keira tried to wrangle herself out of his grip but Quidditch had made him stronger over the years and it resulted in a failure.

"If you're not going to go and see her for your own sake, can you just do this one little thing for me?"

"Considering my dislike of the big 'H', and if I was doing it for you, you need your body there instead of mine so really you should just go there."

"Okay, that didn't make any sense – oh for Merlin's sake, stop being a smartass. You're the only person I know who could probably be dying and you can still crack bloody jokes. Please can you just do this for me?" Albus pouted and Keira knew there was no way she was getting out of this.

"Only if you take me there," she pouted back, "I'm starting to see little purple spots."

That was only partly a lie; she had started to see purple spots two weeks ago but had spent a week refusing to admit they were getting to her and the week after blaming it on standing up too quickly.

"Alright, alright, if you promise to stay there if I go, I've got to get to Slughorn's dinner."

"I promise to stay there, Al. I swear."

"Good, only a little while more."

The corridors appeared to go on for days. When Albus presented her to Madam Pomfrey, she couldn't believe the nearly catatonic state Keira had managed to get herself in on the short journey to the Hospital Wing.

"Here, lay her down here, Albus. Thank you, do you want to stay?" Keira heard Madam Pomfrey say.

"Sleep tight," Al said, dropping a friendly kiss on her forehead before leaving.

"Alright Miss Fitzpatrick, what seems to be the problem?"

"Albus insisted that I come in here because I've been having some headaches for the last week or so and honestly I'm fine, so I shouldn't waste your time and I'll be going now."

Madam Pomfrey refused to let Keira escape, remembering the one other time the girl had been admitted to the hospital wing. She said she was fine, stood straight up and then promptly blacked out again.

"Headaches, you say? For how long?"

"Just like the last week," Keira replied, fidgeting.

"Are you being truthful, Miss Fitzpatrick?"

"Obviously! It's only been the last week!"

One of Madam Pomfrey's silver eyebrows rose.

"It's been going on since July. They didn't bother me too much over the summer but now I've been back they've been getting worse and-" Keira broke off, "Now the room's spinning, great."

"Lie back down, Keira. I've got a cure for headaches here, but what you're describing doesn't seem to be just a headache. Have you had any other symptoms?"

"I feel like I can hear the entire world and there are these funny little purplish dots in my vision all the time."

Madam Pomfrey disappeared for a moment and returned with a glass filled with a simmering turquoise liquid.

"Drink that up and get comfortable, you're staying here for the night."

Keira looked at the silver vapour climbing out of the glass. She edged up to a sitting position, picked up the potion and spoke.

"Bottoms up I guess," Downing the drink in two long gulps, she put the cup back to the side and felt it kick in immediately.

* * *

Keira woke up feeling worse. She rolled to the side of the bed, grabbed the bin and threw up. Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office, saw the scene and pushed forward to try and help.

Despite calling in a professional Healer – Madam Pomfrey knew enough about Keira that she would adamantly refuse to go near St Mungo's – the condition evaded the medics who were a match for every other malady. Keira didn't know Auntie Karen had been called in until she was escorted in by Professor Slughorn and Professor Longbottom.

"She'll have to catch up with the past two weeks of school, Miss Fitzpatrick," Professor Slughorn noted as he dropped into one of the many assembled chairs by Keira's bedside.

"I'm sure my niece can do that when she's better, Professor. Speaking of when she's better, how long has she been having these for?"

"She said since about July."

Keira wasn't watching, but Professor Longbottom was. He saw Karen's face drop and he wondered what was going through her brain. No-one was really surprised at what she said next.

"I'll take her off your hands for the week, it's alright. Her mother had something similar when she was younger and so did one of my other sisters."

"I thought you only have two other sisters?" Professor Slughorn asked, "I have it on good authority that Keira only has two aunts, one of which is yourself and the other one is in fact, a Squib?"

"Oh, not Laura. Bless her, she'll be so stressed when I tell her all of this. No, my other sister, the one Keira's named after, went through all of this at the same age."

"But what happened to her?" Madam Pomfrey inquired.

"Best we don't talk about this now."

"What happened?" Her tone was relentlessly adamant as she asked again.

Karen's voice dropped, "Ciara died before she could turn sixteen. Hopefully that won't happen to this little one." Keira felt her aunt's hand brush her hair away from her eyes, "I should get going with her or Mum will be mad I spent this much time away. I'm sure she'll give me an exception, considering this one's state."

Keira felt more than ridiculous when Professor Longbottom picked her up like a baby and carried her to the front of Hogwarts.

"It's alright, I've just parked up in Hogsmeade. I'm sure the carriage can get us there."

* * *

Keira didn't really alter her daily routine when she got home. She got put in bed and stayed there for four days while her grandparents and aunt cooked up the 'Fitzpatrick Cure-All'. That might not have been the exact name of whatever it was she had drunk, but it made her headaches go away overnight.

"Is everything alright now, buttercup?" Auntie Karen asked from beside Keira's bed. She was quickly writing a little letter to her other sister, Laura, to briefly inform her about her own niece.

_Keira's had some problems at school, she's just like her namesake. Mum says it's nothing to worry about so try not to fret about her, she's much better than Ciara was and I'd even say she's doing better than Caitlin was at this point. Maybe it's just me, but I've got to take her back to Hogwarts on Sunday evening. She's doing so much better now than she was on Monday morning, so I'm not too bothered by it. Hope all is well for you and Neil.  
love, Karen._

"Yeah. I can still hear an awful lot though. It's strange, I feel like someone's trying to talk to me but I've got my head in water but I can hear things for ages."

"Like what?"

"Like, I could tell you that Grandma's wash is going to finish in twenty three seconds or that I know almost everything you wrote in that letter based on your penmanship. I can hear the owls even though they're outside in the shed, and a letter's just been dropped off."

Karen smiled, "You've grown so much, sweetie. I'll go and get the mail. Do you know which bird delivered it?"

"It doesn't sound like one of ours."

Keira was right. It was a Hogwarts bird, carrying a rolled up piece of parchment with the Hogwarts crest stamped in red wax. Auntie Karen untied it and the bird went to sit at the bird stand in the corner of the room.

"It's for you, darling. I'll take the bird upstairs, let me know if you need anything."

Hardly listening, Keira opened the letter.

_Dear Miss Keira Fitzpatrick,_

_Apologies for the informality of this letter, I only just received the news myself, but Professor Flitwick has assigned you a fellow student mentor from many of your own classes to help you catch up with the three weeks of work you've missed. I'll see you in class on Monday, can you stay in class during the break please. _

_Many thanks,  
Professor H. Slughorn._

* * *

On Monday morning, following her return to Hogwarts, Keira was bright-eyed and bushy tailed and ready for class.

"I'm so sorry about all of that, Keira," Albus said at breakfast that morning.

"Nonsense, I'm much better now. Just took three weeks and I get an excuse for not understanding stuff in class."

Albus laughed, "Only you, Key. Only you. Wanna hear what's happened in the last three weeks?"

"Fill me in, wonderboy!" She laughed, slathering jam onto her toast and taking a bite.

"Let's see, Gryffindor slated Ravenclaw in the opening Quidditch match, my darling older brother's already broken two girl's hearts and there's a trainee Divination teacher. Rumour has it that Trelawney's close to a mental breakdown or something."

"Well if she gets admitted to St Mungo's, I'm sure she'll make best mates with my mum."

"Your mum's in St Mungo's?" Albus asked, his voice a little quieter.

"Yeah, she's been in and out of the place. They finally managed to catch her again and she's in that Tanus Jickey ward thingy-"

"You mean Janus Thickey ward?"

"Probably. I don't know and right now I have other things to deal with."

"Oh. Well it's better to put yourself first."

"My education is coming first until I'm all caught up with schoolwork. I wonder who's supposed to be mentoring me."

"I'm sure it's someone responsible, probably a Ravenclaw. You know how they are with their studying. They know like, everything."

Scorpius sat down next to Albus, "Except no-one knows Potions like I do." He said with a smile. "Have you read this morning's Prophet?"

"No, why?"

"There's like a whole page dedicated to slating Azkaban security. Apparently someone went there, like undercover and the only way it could be more useless is 'if it was made of chocolate', if I remember exactly. Here, page five."

* * *

"For Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic and Defence, Ella from your dormitory has stepped forward and offered to help, which I thought was very kind of her. But for Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, we had to choose someone who was at the same level as you, because we don't want to overstretch your poor mind."

If Keira hadn't had to leave Hogwarts for a week due to her health, she would've been offended.

"And only one person has scored similarly to you, I'd like you two to get to know each other. James Potter. He's agreed to the whole thing and you two can work with each other after this break."

Keira pouted, but it was her only way out of extra sessions with the professors themselves, who were even harder to avoid.

"What potion are we making then?"

"Draught of Peace. You've missed all of the theory behind this, but I'll get you caught up as soon as possible."

"Quick question – does James know he's allegedly mentoring me?"

Professor Slughorn looked distracted as he opened up a letter at his desk, "Of course, of course, he was more than willing to accept our offer. Oh, there goes the bell."

Keira avoided rolling her eyes back into her head and turned around.

"Hi," James Potter said, making her jump out of her skin.

"Well hi there," she replied. "Where do you want to sit for this lesson?"

* * *

A/N: So things moved a little too quickly but that's kinda how I want it? I'm not sure how many chapters this will be just yet, but things are going to slow down, the plot covers less than four months really. and yes, i know the student-mentoring thing is totally cliched, but i'm taking it one step at a time and seeing how it goes. should be okay to update this time next week, just gotta get my head in the game. (wildcats _out_)


End file.
